Patent Application
20170362764
This application is based on and claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2016-0076784, filed on Jun. 20, 2016, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference for all purposes.
Embodiments of the present disclosure relates to a wall-mounted washing machines and an installation method thereof.
A wall-mounted washing machine can be installed on a wall, which is particularly useful for rooms with relatively small spaces.
Generally, a wall-mounted washing machine includes a cabinet, a tub disposed within the cabinet and configured to store washing water, a drum rotatably installed in the tub and configured to accommodate laundry or other washing objects, a drive device configured to supply power to and drive rotation of the drum, a water supply device configured to supply washing water into the tub, and a drain device configured to drain washing water from the tub to the outside of the cabinet.
Once washing operation is started, washing water is supplied into the tub and the drum by the operation of the water supply device. The drum is rotated by the drive device. At the end of washing, washing water in the tub and the drum is drained to the outside of the cabinet by the operation of the drain device.
A wall-mounted washing machine usually is designed with a compact size. For example, it can be installed on a wall of a bathroom that typically has a small area.
However, a wall made of a structurally-weak lightweight material usually lacks the mechanical strength and stability needed to support the weight of a washing machine attached thereto, especially if ordinary bolts are used for affixation.
In particular, due to vibration caused by the washing machine operation, especially in the dewatering and rinsing cycles, the affixture between the washing machine and the wall may become loose. In a worse scenario, the washing machine may even fall from the wall, causing damage to the washing machine as well as the wall, and even beyond.
Patent Document 1: Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2013-0064624 (published on Jun. 18, 2013)
In view of the above, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a wall-mounted washing machine capable of being secured and/or affixed to a structurally-weak lightweight wall having regular or irregular cavities and an installation method thereof.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wall-mounted drum type washing machine, comprising: a rear panel mounted on a wall; a tub integrally formed with the rear panel and configured to store washing water; a drum rotatably installed in the tub; a chemical anchor put into a fastening hole formed in the wall; and a fastener kit having one end portion inserted into and fixed to the fastening hole, and the other end portion fixed to the rear panel.
As described above, according to embodiments of the present disclosure, a washing machine can be mounted on a structurally-weak lightweight wall. Furthermore, vibration caused by washing machine operation, especially in dewatering and rinsing cycles, can be attenuated and restrained from being transmitted to the porous wall. Thus, noise generated by vibration can be reduced and/or prevented. This can also significantly reduces the risk of the washing machine falling from the wall due failure of the fastening mechanism.
Hereinafter, configurations and operations of embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following description is one of various patentable aspects of the disclosure and may form a part of the detailed description of the disclosure.
However, in describing the disclosure, detailed descriptions of known configurations or functions that make the disclosure obscure may be omitted.
The disclosure may be variously modified and may include various embodiments. Specific embodiments will be exemplarily illustrated in the drawings and described in the detailed description of the embodiments. However, it should be understood that they are not intended to limit the disclosure to specific embodiments but rather to cover all modifications, similarities, and alternatives which are included in the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
The terms used herein, including ordinal numbers such as “first” and “second” may be used to describe, and not to limit, various components. The terms simply distinguish the components from one another. When it is said that a component is “connected” or “linked” to another component, it should be understood that the former component may be directly connected or linked to the latter component or a third component may be interposed between the two components. Specific terms used in the present application are used simply to describe specific embodiments without limiting the disclosure. An expression used in the singular encompasses the expression of the plural, unless it has a clearly different meaning in the context.
Referring to
More specifically, the rear panel 100 is a support frame which can be affixed to the porous wall 10 through the fastener kit 400. The rear panel 100 may be rectangular-shaped with round corners. However, the rear panel can be of any suitable shape without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, such as circular or elliptical.
The tub 200 may be integrally formed with the rear panel 100. The integral formation of the rear panel 100 with the tub 200 reduces or eliminates the need for additional components for supporting the tub 200, such as a damper, a damping spring and the like. Thereby, the number of components and the overall size of the wall-mounted washing machine can be reduced. In particular, if the rear panel 100 is made of the same material as the tub 200, for example, a synthetic resin, the rear panel 100 and the tub 200 may be simultaneously formed by performing insert-injection once. This can further reduce the time and cost for manufacturing the rear panel 100 and the tub 200.
The tub 200 is a cylindrical reservoir integrally formed with the rear panel 100 and used to contain washing water. The tub 200 may receive washing water from a water supply device. The washing water may be drained from the tub 200 to the outside through a drain device. In this regard, the water supply device may include a water supply pipe as a water supply path through which the washing water is supplied. It may also include a water supply valve to control the flow rate of the washing water supplied into the tub 200 through the water supply pipe. The drain device may include a drain pump configured to generate pressure to draw the washing water, a drain pipe providing a path for draining washing water, and a drain port through which the washing water is drained from the drain pipe.
The drum 300 may be rotatably installed in the tub 200. The drum 300 is a cylindrical container configured to accommodate laundry or other washing objects. The drum may rotate in the tub 200. For example, the drum 300 may be driven by a drive device and can make half or full rotations within the tub 200. The drive device may include a drive motor and a drive shaft rotatably coupled to the drive motor.
During operation, laundry is loaded into and washed by the drum 300. Rotation of the drum 300 typically causes moderate vibration which can be effectively attenuated due to the firm coupling between the fastener kit 400 and the wall surface. However, vibration generated in the dewatering and rinsing cycles may not be sufficiently attenuated. A shock-absorbing member 450 for attenuating vibration may be disposed between the rear panel 100 and the porous wall 10. The shock-absorbing member 450 is described below in greater detail.
The housing 500 is coupled to the rear panel 100 and contains the tub 200. The housing 500 may be formed in a cylindrical shape with front and rear openings. The rear end portion of the housing 500 may be removably coupled to the rear panel 100 using fixing members such as screws or the like.
The cover 600 may be circular-shaped and mounted to the front opening of the housing 500. The lower portion of the cover 600 may have push buttons for a user to control the washing machine, a display window, and the like. An opening portion may be formed in the central region of the cover 600. The front door 700 may be mounted to the opening portion of the cover 600 to open and close an inner space of the tub 200.
The chemical anchor 800 may significantly enhance the bonding between an anchor rod 410 of the fastener kit 400 and the inner surface of the fastening hole 20. The chemical anchor 800 may be provided in the form of a capsule filled with a bonding material or may be provided in the form of a pack filled with a bonding material so that the bonding material can be injected into the fastening hole 20 using an injection gun.
In the present embodiment, the chemical anchor 800 having a capsule form is placed in the fastening hole 20. The anchor rod 410 of the fastener kit 400 is inserted into the fastening hole 20 with the chemical anchor 800 therein. Alternatively, the chemical anchor 800 may be injected into the fastening hole 20 of the lightweight wall 10 with an injection gun. The anchor rod 410 may be inserted into the fastening hole 20 after the chemical anchor 800 is injected.
The fastener kit 400 can securely affix the washing machine to the lightweight wall 10 through the fastening hole 20 in the lightweight wall 10.
The fastener kit 400 may include an anchor rod 410 having one end portion inserted into the fastening hole 20 and the other end portion coupled to the rear panel 100. A fastening nut 440 is used to affix the other end portion of the anchor rod 410 to the rear panel 100. A shock-absorbing member 450 is disposed between the lightweight wall 10 and the rear panel 100 and fitted to the anchor rod 410 to absorb vibration.
in this regard, one end portion of the fastening hole 20 is inserted into the fastening hole 20 by penetrating the chemical anchor 800. Thus, a bonding liquid contained in the chemical anchor 800 hardens in the fastening hole 20 to strongly maintain the bonding between the wall and the anchor rod 410.
For example, as illustrated in
At this time, the chemical anchor 800 is drilled by the anchor rod 410. The bonding liquid contained in the chemical anchor 800 spreads in the fastening hole 20. As the bonding liquid hardens, the anchor rod 410 may be firmly affixed to the inner surface of the fastening hole 20. After one end portion of the anchor rod 410 is affixed to the lightweight wall 10, the rear panel 100 is affixed to the other end portion of the anchor rod 410 using the fastening nut 440. The shock-absorbing member 450 is interposed between the lightweight wall 10 and the rear panel 100 to reduce vibration and noise generated during operation of the washing machine and transmitted to the lightweight wall 10.
In a wall-mounted washing machine according to a modification of the present disclosure, if vibration of the washing machine generated in the course of dewatering and rinsing the washing objects is expected to be small, the shock-absorbing member 450 may not be needed. In this case, the omission of the shock-absorbing member 450 from the washing machine makes it possible to reduce the number of components and the number of steps.
As illustrated in
At the step S100, the fastening hole may be formed using a drill 31. The depth of the fastening hole 20 may be selected based on the strength, material and shape of the lightweight wall 10.
At the step S200, the fastening hole 20 is cleaned to remove the extraneous material generated during drilling. For example, debris-like extraneous material may be first removed using a cleaning brush 32 and particle-like extraneous material or others may be secondarily removed by an air gun 33.
At the step S300, a chemical anchor 800 having a capsule form is placed into the fastening hole 20. Alternatively, the chemical anchor 800 may be injected into the fastening hole 20 using an injection gun.
At the step S400, to affix the anchor rod in the fastening hole, the end portion of the anchor rod 410 may be rotationally struck by a hammer drill 34 so that the anchor rod 410 penetrates the chemical anchor 800 inserted into the fastening hole 20. At this time, the chemical anchor 800 is penetrated by the anchor rod 410. Thus, the bonding liquid contained in the chemical anchor 800 spreads in the fastening hole 20. As the bonding liquid hardens, the anchor rod 410 may be firmly affixed to the wall through contact with the inner surface of the fastening hole 20.
At the step S500, the rear panel 100 is affix to the other end portion of the anchor rod 410 using the fastening nut 440. At this time, the shock-absorbing member 450 is interposed between the lightweight wall 10 and the rear panel 100. This can restrain vibration and noise generated during operation of the washing machine from being transmitted to the lightweight wall 10.
As described above, according to embodiments of the present disclosure, a washing machine can be mounted on a structurally-weak lightweight wall. Furthermore, vibration caused by washing machine operations, especially in dewatering and rinsing cycles, can be attenuated and restrained from being transmitted to the lightweight wall.
Thus, noise generated by vibration can be prevented. This can also significantly reduce the risk of the washing machine falling from the wall due to a failure of the fastening mechanism.
Although exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art will understand that the present disclosure may be implemented in various ways without changing the necessary features or the spirit of the present disclosure.
Therefore, it should be understood that the exemplary embodiments described above are not limiting, but only an example in all respects. The scope of the present disclosure is expressed by claims below, not the detailed description, and it should be construed that all changes and modifications achieved from the meanings and scope of claims and equivalent concepts are included in the scope of the present disclosure.
From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described herein for purposes of illustration, and that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. The exemplary embodiments disclosed in the specification of the present disclosure do not limit the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure will be interpreted by the claims below, and it will be construed that all techniques within the scope equivalent thereto belong to the scope of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2016-0076784 | Jun 2016 | KR | national |
